NOTE: Retroactive to June 15, 2015, the Rent Law of 2015 went into effect. This website has not yet been updated to reflect the new Rent Law. Notably, the new law effects calculation of vacancy leases; high-rent deregulation; and Major Capital Improvements (MCI's). For assistance, please contact the NYS Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR), the agency that regulates rent stabilized apartments in NYC, or visit their website.

NOTE: Retroactive to June 15, 2015, the Rent Law of 2015 went into effect. This website has not yet been updated to reflect the new Rent Law. Notably, the new law effects calculation of vacancy leases; high-rent deregulation; and Major Capital Improvements (MCI's). For assistance, please contact the NYS Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR), the agency that regulates rent stabilized apartments in NYC, or visit their website.

Disclaimer:By
providing answers to frequently asked questions, the staff of the
Rent Guidelines Board attempts to clarify the often complex programs
and regulations governing landlord tenant relations in NYC. However,
the information provided herein does not represent official policies
or opinions of the City of New York or the Rent Guidelines Board nor
should this information be used to substitute for advice of legal
counsel.

In addition: The NYS Homes and Community Renewal's Office of Rent Administration (DHCR) also offers useful information on their Web site, with special web pages for both owners and tenants, as well as their own FAQ page.

I'm
not sure my apt. is stabilized - How much can my rent be raised?

To
find out whether or not your apartment is rent stabilized, contact
the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR). Ask them if the apartment is or should
be rent stabilized, and if it is, ask for a "rent history." Also, if the
apartment is rent stabilized, ask your landlord to provide a copy of the rent
stabilization "lease rider."If
the apartment is rent stabilized, see the answer to the next question.

If
you find that your apartment is not rent stabilized, there is no limit on
the rent increase that can be charged at the end of your lease. If you have
no lease, or your lease has expired, you are considered a "month-to-month" tenant. According
to the NYS Attorney General's Office, a New York City landlord may raise
the rent of a month-to-month tenant with the consent of the tenant. However,
if the tenant does not consent, the landlord can terminate the tenancy by
giving appropriate notice (Real Property Law ß232-b). You may wish
to read further on this issue by visiting the New York State Attorney General's
Tenant's Rights Guide regarding Month-to-Month tenancy here.

If
you are rent stabilized, your rent can only be increased in accordance with
the rent guidelines issued by the Rent Guidelines Board or on a specific
ground set forth in the Rent Stabilization Code. The most common grounds
for rent increases outside of the annual guidelines are major capital improvement
increases, individual apartment increases, increases resulting from high
income deregulation (in which case the apartment is no longer stabilized),
and increases permitted because of owner hardship. To see how much the rent
may increase based on our rent guidelines, refer to our most recent Apartment
Order. Rent increases based on other factors, like apartment improvements,
can be found in DHCR Fact Sheet #26. Also see DHCR's Overcharge FAQ webpage.

Are
there any restrictions on rent increases in my unregulated apartment?

No, unless there is currently a lease in effect.
When a lease expires, or if there is no lease in effect, an owner of an unregulated apartment may charge what the market will bear.
Of course, it is always worthwhile to check to see if the apartment was,
if previously regulated, lawfully deregulated. For example, if the apartment
rents for over $2,500 and the prior tenant paid $800, the increase may only
be justified by legal adjustments, such as the vacancy allowance and individual
apartment improvement increases. To determine if the increase to a deregulated
level was lawful, contact
the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal at (718) 739-6400, and ask for a rent history.

If you have
no lease, or your lease has expired, you are considered a "month-to-month" tenant. According
to the NYS Attorney General's Office, a New York City landlord may raise
the rent of a month-to-month tenant with the consent of the tenant. However,
if the tenant does not consent, the landlord can terminate the tenancy by
giving appropriate notice (Real Property Law ß232-b). You may wish
to read further on this issue by visiting the New York State Attorney General's
Tenant's Rights Guide regarding Month-to-Month tenancy here.

Where
can one go to get information on the availability of rent stabilized apartments?

We
have a list of rent stabilized properties, but
it is not comprehensive. We do not have information on apartment availability,
nor do we have ownership information. You will have to contact the building
owner or managing agent yourself to check on the availability of a particular
apartment. The name and contact information of the owner or managing agent
is frequently posted in the lobby of a building. You can also obtain owner
information by visiting HPD
Online or the NYC Dept. of Finance City
Register Information page.

No.
According to the NYS Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR),
the state agency that administers the rent laws, cash, money orders, personal
checks and cashier's checks are all valid ways to pay your rent, but your
landlord cannot demand a specific form of payment unless the tenant agrees
to it in a stipulation in Housing Court.

Landlords
must provide tenants with a written receipt when rent is paid in cash, a
money order, a cashier's check or in any form other than personal check of
a tenant. Where a tenant pays the rent by personal check, (s)he may request
in writing a rent receipt from the landlord. The receipt must state the payment
date, the amount, the period for which the rent was paid, and the apartment
number. The receipt must be signed by the person receiving the payment and
state his or her title. (Real Property Law §§235-e)

Under
rent regulations amended in June, 2003, existing tenants who pay a "preferential
rent" (meaning that the owner initially agreed to an amount lower than the
legal rent) may not be entitled to renewal
increases based upon the preferential rent amount. For instance, if the legal
rent is $1,200 but the landlord charges $1,000, any increase may be based
on the legal rent of $1,200. Thus, if the tenant chooses a one-year lease
renewal and the guideline increase is 4.5% for a one year lease, the tenant
in this example may face a maximum increase of $254, raising the maximum
rent to $1,254.

In
April, 2008, DHCR updated the procedure for determining whether preferential
rents have to be charged for the remainder of the lease term. Please read
DHCR Fact Sheet #40.

This
is what is known as a preferential rent. There are many reasons why a landlord
would reduce the "legal" rent, or the higher amount on your lease, most often,
a landlord offers a preferential rent when he/she is unable to rent the apartment
at its full legal value due to aspects of the rental market such as demand
for housing, location or the availability of housing.

First,
you should make sure that the apartment is (or was) rent stabilized. In some
cases (e.g., rent over $2,500, or if the building is a co-op), the building
may contain rent stabilized units, but not all of the apartments in the building
may be stabilized. Verify with the landlord that the unit is rent stabilized.
We have a list of rent stabilized properties,
but it is not comprehensive.

When
you sign a stabilized lease a stabilization "Lease Rider" should be attached
to your lease. The lease rider should contain the previous rent (according
to the landlord) and the reasons why it was increased.

It
is not possible to get an official rent figure for the previous tenant (unless
you ask the previous tenant himself/herself) until you move into the apartment.
For confidentiality reasons, the NY State Division of Housing and Community
Renewal (DHCR), the state agency which administers the rent laws (718-739-6400)
will not give you the rent history for the apartment until you sign a lease. Thus,
if you like the apartment and it is stabilized, move in and then get the
previous rent. If it seems inaccurate or incorrect, you can file a rent overcharge
complaint with the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal.

If
the prior tenant was rent controlled you may consider filing a Fair Market
Rent Appeal (FMRA). This may or may not result in the finding of a rent overcharge
depending upon the various factors used in calculating the new rent. See DHCR Fact Sheet #6 on FMRAs. Also, your apartment
may have undergone high rent deregulation. Thus, if the prior tenant paid
$1,000 per month and the landlord took the vacancy allowance and made substantial
improvements to bring the legal rent over $2,500, the apartment would no
longer be subject to rent regulation and an increase to $3,000 or $4,000,
or any higher amount would be lawful.

However,
you may have been overcharged. The NY State Division of Housing and Community
Renewal (DHCR) is the agency which administers the rent laws and ONLY they
can rule on an overcharge complaint. The Rent Guidelines Board has no jurisdiction
in this area. Contact
DHCR at 718-739-6400 if you would like to file an overcharge
complaint.

When
owners make improvements or installations to a building subject to the rent
stabilization or rent control laws, they may be permitted to increase the
rent based on the actual, verified cost of the improvements. This is called
a Major Capitol Improvement (MCI).

To
qualify as an MCI, the improvement or installation must:

Meet depreciation
standards of the Internal Revenue Code other than for ordinary repairs;

Be for the
operation, preservation and maintenance of the building;

Directly or
indirectly benefit ALL tenants; and, Meet the requirements set forth in
the Division of Housing and Community Renewal's (DHCR) useful life schedule.

To
be eligible for a rent increase, the MCI must be a new installation and not
a repair to old equipment. For example, an owner may receive an MCI increase
for a new boiler or a new roof but not for a repaired or rebuilt one. Some
procedures qualify as MCI's as well, such as "pointing" and "waterproofing."

When
the owner submits an MCI rent increase application to the State Division
of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR Fact Sheet #24), DHCR notifies the tenants and gives them an opportunity
to submit objections to the application. The DHCR will issue an order either
granting an increase in whole or in part or denying the increase. The rent
increase is a permanent addition to the legal regulated rent (there may also
be temporary rent increases too, see below). No increase may be charged or
collected unless and until DHCR issues an order approving the Increase. In
addition, an owner cannot collect an MCI increase from a tenant for whom
DHCR has determined that "required services" are not being maintained; or
from a tenant who has a rent reduction order in place. No MCI rent increase
will be approved while a building-wide service reduction order is in effect.

For
rent stabilized apartments in NYC, the rent increase collectible in any one
year may not exceed 6% of the tenant's rent, as listed on the schedule of
monthly rental income filed with the owner's application, for both the permanent
prospective increase and the temporary retroactive portion. The temporary
retroactive increase covers the time period between the tenant's date of
notification and the agency's approval order. Increases above the 6% cap
can be spread forward to future years. For all rent controlled apartments
and for stabilized apartments outside NYC, the permanent increase collectible
in any one year may not exceed 15% of the tenant's rent as of the issue date
of the order.

There
is no limit on the number of MCIs your landlord can file, so long as the
improvements qualify as Major Capital Improvements (MCI's). However, for
rent stabilized apartments in New York City the increases may not be added
at a rate of more than 6% of the rent per year. Thus, an improvement that
warrants an 18% rent increase must be phased in over three years. As a tenant
you have the right to object to the landlord's application if you do not
think it is legitimate. See the DHCR Fact Sheet #24 on
MCI's for further information.

How
can I find out what the landlord spent on apartment improvements before signing my new lease?

The
landlord should have appended the rent stabilization "lease rider" to your
lease. The rider should have included the prior rent paid for your apartment
and calculations showing how much the rent was increased, and for what reasons.
Included in these calculations should be the amount of "1/40th" individual
apartment improvements (IAI's). In general, a landlord can raise the rent
of an apartment by 1/40th (or 1/60th in buildings with more than 35 apartment units, effective Sept. 24, 2011) of the cost of any improvements (e.g. $6,000 spent
on a new kitchen = a $150 rent increase if the owner is entitled to a 1/40th increase OR a $100 rent increase if the owner is entitled to a 1/60th increase). If you did not receive the rider
you should request it from your landlord. If s/he does not provide it you can
file a complaint with the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal,
the state agency which administers the rent regulation system (718-739-6400).
If you believe that the claimed cost of the improvements is exaggerated and
fraudulent, and you have already signed the lease, you may consider filing a rent overcharge claim. In defending
the claim, the landlord will have to provide receipts and canceled checks
to support the claimed cost. See the DHCR Fact Sheet #12 on IAI's for more information.

As
a rent stabilized tenant, do I have to pay increases for major capital
improvements (MCI's) in perpetuity?

Yes.
The DHCR calculates the rent increase based
on a 7 year (i.e., 84 months) amortization schedule of the certified allowable costs
for the MCI. In other words, the owner can add about 1/84th of the cost of
the project to his/her monthly rent roll for the building. This building
wide increase is then allocated among the units in the building on a per
room basis. Notwithstanding this notion of a seven year amortization, so
long at the increase was lawful, it becomes part of the base rent and remains
a permanent part of the legal rent. That is, the 1/84th factor is
simply used to calculate the adjustment, not to limit its application. See the DHCR Fact Sheet #24 on
MCI's for further information.

Disclaimer:By
providing answers to frequently asked questions, the staff of the
Rent Guidelines Board attempts to clarify the often complex programs
and regulations governing landlord tenant relations in NYC. However,
the information provided herein does not represent official policies
or opinions of the City of New York or the Rent Guidelines Board nor
should this information be used to substitute for advice of legal
counsel.